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Presents:
Spinning for Crochet
spinningdaily.com
c o n t e n t s
love to crochet with handspun yarn. Crochet and handspinning are perfect partnerseach brings out the best in the other. With crochet, you can literally go in any directionthe loops can be formed in straight organized lines or they can be piled on each other, building amazing textures and shapes. With crochet, you can make big chunky cat baskets or intricate fine blouses the color of sunsets and moonrises; you can make lacy bags to hold your yarn while you work or tightly worked bags to hold your oil bottle. As you form the loops, youll see that the possibilities are seemingly endlesseach creates more options, more directions you can go. The same is true for handspinningyou choose your fiber, color, texture, and grist. Do you want a fine soft cotton or lustrous wool with a touch of silk? Do you want a thick, chaffy, bulky rope or a fine laceweight yarn? Are you going to keep the natural brown or dye your fiber to reflect the color of the heavens? All this choice, though, can get a little overwhelming. Thats when it is nice to have a little structure and guidance. This eBook provides just thata look at why spinning is so well paired with crochet and how to use the elements of both to produce beautiful, functional pieces that will inspire you for decades to come. Happy spinning,
Amy Clarke Moore, Editor aclarkemoore@interweave.com
1 Old World Crochet by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts 17 Making Cat Baskets by Rosanne Anderson 4 Old World Crochet Bags by John Yerkovich 20 Sunrise Moonset Vest by Lynne Vogel pinning for Crochet The Four-Generation Shawl by Regina Rooney 7 Sby 24 Maggie Casey with Margeret Tullis Isobel by Diane Mulholland 28 12 Crocheted Bag by Meta Thompson Abbreviations and Techniques 30 15 Natural-Dyed Crochet Vest by Erda Kappeler
EDITORIAL Editor Amy Clarke Moore Managing Editor Liz Good Editorial Director Anita Osterhaug Copy Editor & Proofreader Katie Bright CREATIVE SERVICES Production Nichole Mulder and Janice Tapia Production Director Trish Faubion Production Editor Nancy Arndt PUBLISHING Publisher John P. Bolton Marketing Manager Whitney Dorband All contents of this issue of Spin.Off are copy righted by Interweave Press LLC, 2012. All rights reser ved. Projects and information are for inspiration and p ersonal use only. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited, except by permission of the publisher. CONTACT US: For sales information, call (800) 272-2193, email sales@interweave.com. For editorial inquiries, call (970) 776-1436, email spinoff@interweave.com. Visit the Spin. Off website at spinningdaily.com.
Interweave Press LLC. Not to be reprinted. All rights reserved.
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Old World Crochet

by P ri s c il l a A.
A brief history
Gib s on -R obert s
As I developed a broader understanding of the technique, it became clear that it originated in central Asia. I have traced pieces as far east as Kashmir in northern India where it was used to create gloves with intricate floral patterns worked with very fine yarns. The gloves start at the wrist, often with a band worked through the upper loop to resist rolling.
Central Asian socks

Among some of the nomadic peoples of central Asia (the mountainous regions of Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan in particular), the Old World crochet techniques are used to create socks, and the designs are much less refined than the examples from Kashmir. Natural colors are often used for the simpler versions, but in the more elaborate pieces the colors are often intense. The structure of these socks is simple, consisting of a wide leg and a loosely shaped, over-sized foot. The socks are usually designed with bands of pattern on the leg, and then the design changes dramatically at the foot. On some the foot is knitted, but most are worked in a simple stripe spiraling around the foot. Others have smaller, elaborate overall patterns reminiscent of weaving designs. In most cases, these socks were worked from the top down. In this region these socks are part of the traditional dress worn by men when they play a game similar to polo. Women also wear the socks. The dense structure in combination with the over-sized proportions makes it easy to layer the socks and keep warm in cold weather. Old World crochet appears to have been taken on an overland route to the Middle East and beyond. In the Middle East I found examples of socks that are the conventional shape, contouring to the foot, though they dont fit as snugly as Western socks. The socks are worked from the toe to the top in most cases. The designs are small and controlled, making the slant less apparent. In these socks, there is limited use of
hen is crochet not really crochet? Or at least not crochet as we commonly know it? When it goes by the name of shepherds knitting (Scotland), pjoning or kroking (Norway), nocka (Lapland), crochet de Bosnie or Bosnian crochet (France), and simply, hooking (central Asia). For the sake of consistency Ill call it Old World crochet in this article. All these terms refer to a slip stitch structure worked with a short, flat hook often made from the upper portion of a spoon handle. Though referred to by many names, the technique varies from region to region only by which side of the chain loop is encircled when making a stitch. With all of these techniques, the structure is a spiraling tube and the pattern is developed in contrasting colors. When making a stitch, the lower bar of a stitch in the previous row is hooked and lifted, exposing the two ends. So colors are revealed as small vertical stitches. The design is decidedly bias, leaning to the left. The surface looks a lot like needlepoint, although it can look like it is beaded from a distance. The back of the work looks like the knitted stockinette stitch lying on its side when worked in only one color
History
While these Old World crochet techniques are simple to work, they have been difficult to trace historically be Interweave Press LLC. Not to be reprinted. All rights reserved.
cause the technique is a folk art passed from generation to generation. I came across a pair of socks from Afghanistan while I was doing research for my book, Ethnic Socks and Stockings, that baffled me. I was familiar with Bosnian crochet (slip stitch crochet worked around the upper half of the chain loop of the previous round) and finally realized that the legs of these socks were made in a similar way, but the slip stitches were worked through the lower half of the loop. I searched through all possible references and found that this technique (slip stitch crochet worked through the lower half of the loop) was practiced in the northern-most reaches of Scotland and called shepherds knitting. Shortly thereafter, the English translation of Crochet: History and Technique by Lis Paludan became available and it included several pages on this obscure technique. But the book didnt mention anything about slip stitch crochet in the Eastern world. In the meantime, Noel Thurner translated a Norwegian resource for me that indicated the technique came from the Orient. One of the things that fascinated me about Old World crochet is the inherent slant toward the left of the patterning, whether worked through the top or bottom of the loop. Because of this slant its impossible to achieve truly symmetrical patterning, although you can approach symmetry in small repeats.

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Photos by J. VanSant Roberts
Middle Eastern socks purchased by a textile collector in Turkey. The colors and yarn indicate that they are from the early 1950s. The small, independent designs appear symmetricaltrue of most of the work in this region. Courtesy of Rae Erdahl.
These socks were acquired in the 1960s by a Peace Corps volunteer in Faizabad, a remote village in the northeast c orner of Afghanistan in the Hindu Kush mountain range. They are believed to be made by the Tadzhik womenmembers of an ethnic group living in the area. The socks are part of a uniform worn by men as they play bos-kashi, a regional variation of polo. The over-sized proportions allow the women to layer the socks for warmth. Courtesy of Robert Miller.
working through the upper side of the chain loopthis contrasts the horizontal units against the vertical units of the main body of the sock. Bands made in this way were used around the ankle as a design element and around the top to prevent the fabric from curling.
Balkans
In the Balkans, we find more extensive use of Old World crochet that is worked though the upper side of the loop. Here the technique is often used as a design element in combina Interweave Press LLC. Not to be reprinted. All rights reserved.
tion with knitting. It can be worked in single crochet (allowing for vertical, symmetrical designs) as well as in slip stitch crochet. Further into the Balkans, we find socks that are made entirely by working through the upper side of the chain loop. In both cases, the socks more closely resemble booties with wide legs. For the first time, textured patterns in one color created by alternately working around the upper and lower sides of the loops can be found, most often in small bags

and bands. The bands were probably worked in large circles because, if worked flat, the yarn must be broken off at the end of a row and the following row worked again from right to left.
Western Europe
Moving northward through Eastern Europe, once again the predominant Old World crochet technique involves working around the lower side of the loop. Here patterns are small and simple, used mostly in utilitarian mittens. According
Spinning for Crochet Spin.Off 2
These bootie-shaped socks with a wide leg were purchased in a marketplace in the former Yugoslavia. The pair is worked through the upper bar of the chain loop in its entirety with the bias slant dominating the design. Courtesy of Rae Erdahl.
Pjoning hook
to the literature, utilitarian uses were also dominant in Scandinavia, although a contemporary craftswoman has indicated that it was used for more elegant purposes such as christening gowns. This is certainly true in Finland. In the Korsnas district of Finland, working through the upper loop in single crochet was done in a traditional regional sweater dating to the early 1800s. The use of single crochet allows for a vertical, symmetrical patterning that is not possible with the slant of slip stitching. The lower section and upper yoke of the body were worked in crochet, as were the lower and upper sections of the arms. Worked as a circular piece, openings were cut for the sleeves and to shape the neck. In Sweden, fabric for waistcoats was created in s imilar fashion, then cut and stitched into the garment with the rows of pattern positioned vertically. We find some use of the slip stitch technique in Germany and France, but it is scarce in most of Great Britain (aside from northern Scotland) and the Americas. The only use of Old World crochet
in the United States appears to have been in mittens, primarily in the northeastern states where large populations of Europeans congregated. B ecause there were many isolated pockets of European groups involved in the s ettling of the Great Plains, I guess that you might find these sturdy, warm mittens in small, local historical museums, but I have been unable to follow this thread yet.
Priscilla Gibson-Roberts of Bastrop, Texas, continues to study historical and ethnic socks with a passion, as evidenced by her book Simple Socks Plain and Fancy. In her book, she has taken the design techniques gleaned from her research and applied them to thoroughly modern socks. The socks are shaped in both the heel and the toe with a shortrow technique that takes the mystery out of turning heels and makes a toe that actually fits.
A modern crochet hook that has been filed down for Old World crochet.
Resources Collingwood, Peter. The Makers Hand: A Close Look At Textile Structures. Asheville, North Carolina: Lark, 1987. Gillow, John, and Bryan Sentance. World Textiles: A Visual Guide To Traditional Techniques. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1999.

Gray, Diana Blake. Pjonging and Single Strand Chain Braids, Rugmakers Bulletin #11. Cocolalla, Idaho: Rafter-four Designs, 2001. Hansen, Robin, and Janetta Dexter. Mittens Hooked with a Dowel, Flying Geese and Partridge Feet. Camden, Maine: Down East Books, 1986. Harvey, Janet. Traditional Textiles Of Central Asia. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd, 1996. Ozebl, Kenan. Knitted Stockings from Turkish Villages. Ankara, Turkey: Turkiye Is Bankasi Cultural Publications, 1981. Pagoldh, Susanne. Korsnas Sweaters, Nordic Knitting. Loveland, Colorado: Interweave Press, 1991. Paludan, Lis. Crochet: History and Technique. Loveland, Colorado: Interweave Press, 1995.
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Old World Crochet Bags

by J o hn Yerkovic h
Delightful bags to carry small treasures
while ago, when I was visiting Priscilla Gibson-Roberts, I noticed a small white crocheted bag hanging in her studio. It looked simple, but it was charming. Seeing my interest in this bag, Priscilla taught me the basics of an Old World crochet technique used to create this treasure. Having been so charmed by the small white bag, I wanted to make my own bag. I stayed up until the early hours of the morning to complete my first one. It was simpleyellow and black triangles on a white background with a four-strand, braided neck cord. I was hooked. Designing and making these small bags has been a great way to develop the crochet skills involved in this technique. These small projects have also improved my design skills. They offer a stress-free opportunity to play with colors and patterns. Without preparation or planning, I can pick up some yarns and a hook and go. Bags are just the beginning. Before I tried crochet I was led to believe that crochet in general was limited in its possibilities. After a few projects, as far as I can tell, that isnt so. These techniques are well suited to making bags, socks, hats, gloves, and mittens. Ive even wondered about shoes or, possibly, some type of coat.
Yarns for Old World crochet

I have used singles, two-ply, and threeply yarns, both Z- and S-plied yarns, and both millspun and handspun yarns and all were suitable for Old World crochet. I have been most pleased with the projects that I have made from my handspun. My preference is a singles yarn spun Z with a fairly high amount of twist. I find that it is easy to split the plies when working with a plied yarn, and that is annoying These wonderful bags are great for holding treasures like precious rocks.
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Notes
1. Slip stitch through the front loop makes up the majority of the work here. Most of the color work is developed in these areas. 2. Slip stitch through the back loop is used as a way to create decorative bands that act as transitional breaks between patterns, as the stabilizing edge at the top of a bag, or as a fold line for a hem. 3. There are some things the charts just cant show. It is necessary, at times, to add or subtract a stitch in the middle of a pattern to make the numbers work. Because of this, do not take the charts absolutely literally. To add a stitch, work into the front and then back of the same stitch. To subtract a stitch, work through two stitches together. 4. The braid is created in two rounds. The first round alternates a dark stitch with a light stitch. To throw both halves of the braid forward, the second round is worked through the stitch just behind the braid. This stitch is the same stitch that the braid was worked through. 5. When making eyelets, always skip the same number of stitches that you chained. 6. When working with more than one color, there may be floats that seem long. It is possible to catch long floats, but I usually opt not to because it a lmost always shows through on the right side. Try to strand these floats somewhat loosely. It takes practice to get the feel for this. When working with three colors at one time, hold the boundary or border color in the left hand and alternate the other two colors in the right hand, picking up and dropping them systematically to prevent twisting them into a tangled mess. 7. C harts are read from bottom to top and from right to left. 8. The symbols on the charts indicate how you work through the stitches on the previous round (i.e., back, front, behind, chain, etc.) and not how the current round you are working on will lay. 9. O n a bag with a draw cord inside a hem, place the cord before you stitch down the hem. Hems can be stitched with a whip stitch.
and slows the work. A singles yarn with more twist is usually a smoother yarn and is less apt to split. The bags featured here are made with yarns spun from Navajo Churroa dual-coated breed of sheep. At times, the Churro yarns were a little challenging because hairy wools can produce yarns that are difficult to work with because the hook gets caught in the hair easily. But I really like the look of the finished fabric. With the exception of the tan yarn, I dehaired the wool before handcarding to make the yarns easier to use. The undercoat was quite fine. The yarns in the bags shown here are singles yarns spun Z at an average of 26 wraps per inch with an approximate twist angle of 30 degrees. An ounce or two of each color of fiber provided plenty of yarn for these three bags.
Shifts and managing the charts

The way stitches are worked in Old World crochet causes the beginning of the round to move one-half stitch to the left each round so the fabric slants or has a bias to the left. When making tubes, like these bags, this slant isnt seen in the shape of the finished tube but it does become noticeable in multicolor patterns. When a multicolor pattern is worked into a bag it slants to the left, although the charts dont show this slant. So, you cant take the charts absolutely liter ally. Sometimes it is necessary to add or subtract a stitch in the middle of a pattern to make the pattern look right. Another way to manage the effect of the bias when doing color work is to maintain a mostly vertical line at the beginning of the round. To do this it is occasionally necessary to make what I call a shift. A shift is done when the design is changing from one pattern to another. The last round of the current pattern should end so that it lines up above what appears to be the beginning of the round. The shifts have been marked on the charts. John used graph paper and colored pencils to create his designs.
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Key
SLST TFL SLST TBL SLST through stitch behind braid Skip one stitch and work one CHST SLST INC TFL Worked through ST in round below
Shift
A shift isnt a particular type of stitch. It is an adjustment or realignment between the chart and the piece of work in your hands. The shift markings on the charts tell you to stop and take a moment to decide what stitch should be the beginning of the next round of the chart.
Shift Space the 3DEC For each of the three bags in this column use the Cast on for a round-bottom bag, in the glossary. The first row of the chart shows the third round after the cast on. Space the 3 DEC in the solid while row evenly across the row. Shift
Where to begin
Before beginning work on any of the bags, spend some time looking at the charts. Use the sampler chart to acquaint yourself with the stitches that youll be using. Read through the notes; they will help fill in any of the gaps in the drawings and charts. The sampler introduces chain stitch, slip stitch through the back loop and through the front loop, how to use these stitches as textural and structural elements, some concepts in color work with both twoand three-color patterns, how to negotiate bias, and making eyelets for cords. Good luck and enjoy!
John Yerkovich lives on a small farm in the F ingerlakes region of New York with his partner, Jenifer, and their three children. He dabbles in designing and making fiber tools in addition to his interest in spinning, knitting, and crocheting. Currently, John assists a local glass artist in his studio.
Shift Shift
Shift Shift
For a variation in closures, this bag incorporates holes around the top edge for a drawstring to be woven through.
Shift
Shift
Shift Shift Shift
Shift
The uppermost row of SLST TBL stitches provides a neat fold to create a hem that holds a drawstring inside. Begin using this chart on second round after CO.
Sampler Bag. All of these charts are read from bottom to top and right to left. Begin by working 40 chain stitches. Join into round by working a SLST TBL of first chain stitch. Then follow chart. Sew bottom edge together when finished.
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Spinning for Crochet Does twist direction matter?

by M ag gie C a sey w it h M argaret Tul l i s
ve often been asked if the direction of twist matters in a handspun crochet yarn. As a noncrocheting spinner, I didnt have a clue. Margaret Tullis teaches crochet and was curious as well, so we decided to find out. We knew that just by using yarn, you are changing the amount of twist whether you are knitting, crocheting, weaving, or even winding it into a ball. But does the direction of twist also make a difference? The first thing we did was look at the millspun crochet yarn we sell in the shop (Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins in Boulder, Colorado). While most yarns are spun Z (clockwise) and plied S (counterclockwise), our crochet yarns, Patons Opera and DMCs Cebelia, are spun S and plied Z. Then we pulled out our spinning and crochet books and magazines. Most authors didnt mention the twist direction, but those who did had different opinions. What to do? Experiment!
I spun two skeins of singles yarn from Bluefaced Leicester (BFL) top using a worsted draft, one skein Z, one S, and passed them off to Margaret, who whipped up swatches. Margaret noticed a difference in the two yarns immediately, but we wanted to double-check our results, so we found some unsuspecting crocheters to test our samples. Each of our crocheters held the hook in the right hand and had the same results. When they crocheted the Ztwist singles, everyone ended up with more twist in the yarn between the work and the ball. With the Stwist singles, the yarn opened up and became softer and less twisted. Our next step was to see if the same thing happened with plied yarn. Was the last direction of twist the crucial factor? tered the triangle, but for this project, I had to untwist in the opposite direction. I finally got the hang of it, but in the early skeins, I had to compensate by going to a lower drive-wheel ratio to make the Stwist singles yarn the same size and with the same amount of twist as the Z samples. I spun two yarns, one Z and one S, for each sample: first a two-ply BFL and then a three-ply Polwarth (both spun worsted from combed fiber). Then I tried a two-ply yarn from carded wool spun woolen in both directions. For the sacque, Margaret requested Merino top, spun worsted. Plying wasnt a problem; I could ply in either direction without difficulty.
Crocheting
Margaret Tullis: I think we can agree that twist direction matters, but the important thing to consider is what it means ultimately in the finished fabric. Do yarns plied in different directions show similar characteristics? I found that the Sspun/ Zplied yarn crocheted up into a firmer fabric, while the Zspun/Splied fabric was fluffier. The Zplied sample seems to have more luster, and the Splied yarn is duller. In the BFL yarn, there seems to be a slight color shift between the two samples, even though all the yarn was spun from the same fiber. I found that it was easier to crochet with the Zplied yarn as the plies separated in the Splied yarn. In the hat sample, the three-ply yarn was delightful (especially because I love working with the round three-ply yarns), but even then the Zplied
Spinning
Maggie Casey: I tried to make almost identical yarns for Margaret with the only variable being the direction of twist. Before I started spinning, I thought I had the easy joball I had to do was spin a little to the right and a little to the left; how hard could that be? Well, it turned out to be way harder than I thought it would be. Spinning the Ztwist yarns was easy, but matching the yarn in size and amount of twist while spinning in the opposite direction was difficult. Over the years, my twist-controlling hand had gotten very adept at controlling Ztwist. If I let too much twist enter the drafting triangle, I could slightly unroll the fiber and back off the twist as it en Interweave Press LLC. Not to be reprinted. All rights reserved.
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B In these singles samples, the (B) Stwist yarn is a bit softer and appears matte in the fabric compared to the (A) Ztwist yarn, which is harder and more lustrous in the final fabric.
yarn was easier to manage and had more spring. The Splied sample relaxed, and I felt like I was fighting with the yarn while crocheting. The hand of the final Zplied fabric was not as soft as the Splied. In the finished samples, I found that the third ply of the threeply yarn distracted from stitch definition. In the woolen-spun samples, the Splied yarn did untwist a little and the plies became more open when I was working with the yarn, while the Zplied yarns worked up smoothly. Stitch definition isnt the only consideration in crochet. Historically, crochet developed mainly in two formsone decorative, the other utilitarian. In the nineteenth century in Europe, crochet was developed as an imitation of bobbin lace for embellishment. Slip-stitch crochet and Bosnian crochet are examples of sturdy, utilitarian crochet that was developed for strength and warmth. As I
was working with the three-ply yarns, I found that they lent themselves to this utilitarian form as did the woolen-spun samples. The Splied woolen yarn didnt split as much as the worsted samples (maybe the random fiber direction keeps it together better), and the Zplied yarn created a sturdier fabric. Stitch definition can be achieved with the air space or holes characteristic of many granny squares. Crocheting an afghan with the Splied yarn would be a treat. The woolen yarns are lofty and cozy. As we started to talk about the articles project sample, I tried to think of a small project that would show off our findings. We chose Ashland Bay Merino for the great colors. I asked Maggie to spin worsted because I knew it would show stitch definition the best in a two-tone pattern, and I hoped the simple act of crocheting would untwist the Splied (rosewood) yarn enough to show

a matte contrast. I was particularly interested in the matte versus shiny possibilities. Fascinated as I am with felting and fulling, I wondered if some of the Splied yarn that was unplying slightly as I crocheted would make a soft, open fabric that would be good for fulling. The first turquoise green Sply yarn was underspun a bit so it was perfect for trying out the fulling experiment. The other yarns for the project had more twist than the first sample and worked well. There was not as much contrast as I would have liked (it is subtle). A woolen-spun Splied yarn for the background (rosewood) would appear more matte than the worsted yarn. The Zplied yarn certainly showed off the stitch design. I like working with the Ztwist yarns. I like the idea of being able to put in or take out twist as I crochet, and Id like it even more if I could crochet equally with both hands!
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In these 2ply samples (A and B), the (B) Zplied yarn A is easier to crochet than the (A) Splied yarn which C splits during crocheting. In B the final fabric, the Splied yarn is soft and more matte in appearance than the Zplied yarn, which is harder and more lustrous. (C) In the hat, Margaret enjoyed working with the 3ply Zplied yarn best, but the final fabric was not as soft as the Splied yarn. Margaret used the Zplied 3ply yarn to crochet from the top of the hat to the bottom of the popcorn row. From there on, she used the Splied yarn.
I wondered if more yarnovers, such as in the taller stitches like treble crochet (tr), would make the effect more dramatic. I sampled some trebles and found that the added yarnovers did introduce more twist than single crochet stitches. In all of this, hook size and gauge can make a difference in the amount of twist added or subtracted to the yarn, but the real difference here seemed to come from the direction of twist of the final plied yarn. While the bag could have been made from yarn all spun the same direction, the bag is more distinctive because the accent pattern stitches are Zplied and have a harder twist than the other stitches, making them stand out more. Maggie and Margaret: The direction of twist does matter, but which direc-
tion is best? Of course, the answer is it depends. It depends on what you are making; if you are doing fine lacy crochet where you want crisp stitch definition and if you are a right-handed crocheter, a final Ztwist will give you lovely defined stitches. If you are crocheting a baby blanket, afghan, or something where drape and softness are your first concerns, a final Stwist may give you a better result. Spinners who crochet with the left hand might try reversing these suggestions. The best way to know which direction to spin is to sample. Spin a little, crochet, and sample until you get a fabric you love, and enjoy the benefits of being able to spin your own yarn!
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Project Notes
Fiber: Ashland Bay Merino top: 1 oz turquoise green (1 oz for the Splied yarn and oz for the Zplied yarn), 2 oz rosewood, and 1 oz peach. Preparation: Not predrafted. Drafting method: Worsted (short forward draw). Wheel: Schacht Matchless. Wheel system: Scotch tension. Ratio (singles/plying): 11:1 (Z/S); 9:1 (S/Z). Singles wraps per inch: 31. Number of plies: 2. Twist angle: 20. Plied bumps per inch: 9. Plied wraps per inch: 18. Total yardage: 332. Yards per pound: 1,180. Yarn classification: Sportweight to DK. Yardage used: 170. Hook: U.S. sizes C and D; size B if you do not full the base; and size F for drawstring. Gauge: 5 stitches and 5 rows in ingle crochet with D hook = 1". s Finished size: 7" wide, 8" high (excluding base).
Margaret Tullis worked with spinner A Maggie Casey to B create crocheting yarns for this bag that enhanced the stitch C definition and that were pleasant to crochet withby changing the twist direction of the yarns to create the effects desired. A) Zplied turquoise, B) Zplied peach, C) saque.
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10
SPlied Sacque
Base (a flat circle) I began the bag by first crocheting the base with the Splied Merino (Ashland Bay turquoise green) with a size D hook. For a stiffer, flatter base, full it by wetting it with hot soapy water and rolling it back and forth in a sushi mat or other ridged mat until the fabric hardens. Allow the bottom to dry completely on a flat surface before continuing. If you dont want to full the bottom, work the flat round with a size B hook.
next sc, 1 tr 3 rows below as before, sc in next sc, ch 1, skip 1 sc*; rep * to * around. Repeat Rnds 25 once and then work Rnds 23. Repeat Rnd 1 once. Work 7 rounds hdc with rosewood (Z/S). On last round, adjust stitch count as necessary for a multiple of 6 sts.
Maggie Casey, author of Start Spinning (Interweave, 2007) and Start Spinning DVD (Interweave, 2009), spends her day working and teaching at Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins in Boulder, Colorado. She loves teaching spinning because she learns so much from her students. Margaret Tullis is a crocheter first, but has explored fabric construction for over fifty years. She weaves baskets and cloth professionally, sometimes adding paper and felt. She teaches fibers at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Lakewood, Colorado.
Pattern Band 2 (Open Fans and Popcorn)

Rnd 1: With Zplied turquoise, work sc around. Rnd 2: With peach (Z-plied), *skip 2 sc, work 1 dc, ch 1, 1 dc, ch 1, 1 dc into next sc (open fan made), skip 2 sc, sc in next sc; rep from * around. Rnd 3: With turquoise, *ch 3 (counts as first dc; for subsequent repeats, work 4 dc into same sc instead of ch 3, 3 dc), 3 dc in same sc as base of ch. Remove hook and insert hook front to back through tops of the 4 dc just formed and bring yarn through to form a popcorn. Ch 2, sc in center st of open fan, ch 2*. Repeat * to * around. Rnd 4: Repeat Rnd 2 placing each open fan above an open fan 2 rows below. Rnd 5: With turquoise, sc into each stitch around.
Flat, round base of bag

Ch 4, sl st into 4th ch from hook to form a ring. Rnd 1: Ch 1, 6 sc in ring. Rnd 2: 2 sc in each sc around (12 sts). Rnd 3: *1 sc in next sc, 2 sc in next sc; repeat from * around (18 sts). Rnd 4: *1 sc in each of next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc; repeat from * around (24 sts). Rnd 5: *1 sc in each of next 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc; repeat from * around (30 sts). Continue increasing each round by 6 sts until base is desired diameter (about 6" to allow for shrinkage if fulling, or 5" if you are using the smaller hook).
Resources Buchanan, Rita. Spinners Question: Crochet with Handspun. Spin.Off 24, 1 (Spring 2000), 3536. Linder, Harry. Spinning Fibers for Crochet, Spin.Off 10, 1 (Spring 1986), 3031. Linder, Olive, and Harry Linder. Handspinning Flax. Bizarre Butterfly Publishing: Phoenix, Arizona, 1986.
Polwarth combed top from Ashland Bay spun worsted with a short forward draw (singles, 50 wpi; 3ply, 20 wpi washed, 16 bpi; 2ply, 12 bpi).
Turning up
With Splied rosewood and a size C hook, work 1 round hdc through the back loop (no increases). Then work 1 rnd hdc through both loops, increasing or decreasing if necessary to make the number of sts in this round a multiple of 4.
Eyelet band
Rnd 1: With rosewood (S-plied), work 1 sc in each sc around. Rnd 2: *Sc in sc, ch 2, skip 2 sc*; rep * to * around. Rnd 3: Rep Rnd 1. Repeat Pattern Band 2 and end with 1 round sc with rosewood. Join last sc to first with slip st and cut yarn. Weave in all tails neatly on WS.
Pattern Band 1
Cont with Splied rosewood. Rnd 1: *1 sc in each of next 3 sc, ch 1, skip 1 sc*; rep * to * around. Rnd 2: 1 dc in each sc and in each ch around. Rnd 3: With peach (S/Z), work *1 sc, ch 1, skip 1 sc, 1 sc, 1 tr in skipped sc 3 rows below (beneath ch 1 space)*; rep * to * around. Rnd 4: Repeat Rnd 2 in rosewood. Rnd 5: With turquoise (Z-plied), *sc in
Drawstring
With rosewood (Z/S) and a size C hook, crochet a chain about 3 times the desired finished length. Then recrochet this chain with a size F hook. Thread the drawstring through the eyelets.
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Crocheted Bag
by Meta Thomp son
For holding yarn

n the summer of 2002, I spent a wonderful week in Sweden with my mother and daughters visiting relatives. During our visit, a second cousin showed me a small c rocheted bag that had been her grandmothers. It is worn on the wrist and used to hold a ball of yarn while knitting. Because I was the only one in the family she thought might actually use the bag, she passed it on to me. I was touched by the memento because it was my travels to Sweden as a child that first sparked my interest in textiles and in making them. I was also fasci nated because I love little bags, and this one was simple and useful, unlike any I had seen before.Upon my return home I set about trying to reconstruct the bag (the original bag was showing signs of wear so I didnt want to use it). The original measures 512 inches across and appears to have been crocheted with pearl cotton at about 9 to 10 stitches per inch. A Spin-O article1 had mentioned that spinning yarns S and plying Z makes a good crochet yarn, and that technique worked very well for me. I wanted to use cotton to replicate the original bag; but unwilling to take the time necessary to spin the cotton on my charkha Meta Thompson recreated this family heirloom, a bag suitable for every wandering yarn enthusiast.
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I thought I could speed the process by combining cotton and hemp to spin on my Timbertops chair wheel. I carded together equal parts of colored c otton sliver from New World T extiles and hemp top from Aurora Silk on cotton cards. Then, using a s emi worsted technique on my wheel, I spun S at a ratio of 25:1. The yarn was wound into a centerpull ball and using one strand from each end of the ball was Z-plied to create a two-ply yarn measuring 20 wraps per inch. I handwashed the yarn in hot water with dish soap, rinsed it in clear water, and hung it to dry w ithout weights.
1
Spin.O 28, 2 (Summer 2004), 4244.
Pulliam, Deborah. Spinning for Slip-Stitch Crochet,
The cotton/hemp bag turned out larger and more firm than I had hoped. I decided to spin a finer yarn of silk I had in my stash. The two-ply yarns for the silk bag were S-spun and Z-plied from a c ultivated silk brick that I received in exchange for a spinning lesson. I broke off a length of top, separated it into thinner strips, and spun it in a semiworsted style from one end on a Timbertops chair wheel at a 30:1 ratio. I plied and washed the silk yarns as I had the cotton/hemp yarn. After dividing the silk into two skeins, I dyed both green with Lanaset dye, then overdyed one skein with blue. The yarns measure 22 wraps per inch. I am not an expert crocheter, so I had to rely on my friend and weaving/ crocheting mentor, Victoria Johansson, to figure out how to finish each round so it would not make a dogleg. The t echnique is incorporated into the pattern. Pam Perkins, a member of my guild, created a bag pattern modeled on mine by crocheting two medallions, joining them at the sides, and adding a strap. Im sure there are a lot more possibilities.
Meta had read in Spin.Off that spinning S and plying Z makes good yarns for crocheting so she spun her crochet yarn to reconstruct the heirloom bag that was showing signs of wear.
Cotton/hemp Bag Project Notes

Finished size: 612" in diameter. Fiber: 4 ounces each cotton top from New World Textiles and hemp top from Aurora Silk. The bag uses 1 ounce of yarn. Yarn: 115 yards 2-ply (S-spun and Z-plied), 20 wraps per inch. Hook: U.S. D/3 (3.25mm).
Crocheting (both bags are worked the same way)

For bag front, ch 8, sl st to close ring. Round 1: Ch 1, 5 sc in ring, (ch 8, 5 sc into ring) 4 times, ch 5, tr into ring. Results in 5 loops around ring. Round 2: Ch 3, sc in first loop of previous round, (ch 8, sc in same loop) 2 times, [ch 3 between loops, sc in next loop, (ch 8, sc in same loop) 2 times] 3 times around, ch 3, sc in final loop, ch 8, sc in same loop, ch 4, dtr in same loop. Results in 10 loops and 5 connectors between pairs. Round 3: (Ch 5, sc in next loop) 9 times, ch 5, sl st into top of dtr. Results in 10 loops. Round 4: 8 sc around each loop of 5 chains. Join to beginning of round with sl st. Results in 10 loops covered with sc.

Silk Bag Project Notes

Finished size: 5" in diameter. Fiber: 8 ounces cultivated silk brick. Each silk bag uses .70 ounces of yarn. Yarn: 125 yards 2-ply (S-spun and Z-plied), 22 wraps per inch. Hook: U.S. B/1 (2.25mm).
While she was v isiting family in Sweden, Meta Thompsons cousin gave her this, a crocheted family heirloom bag to hold her yarn.
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After her cotton/hemp bag didnt quite meet her expectations, Meta spun a finer weight silk yarn to create more bags for holding yarn.
Round 5: (Ch 6, sc in every fourth st around) 19 times; end with ch 3, tr in stitch beside first loop. Results in 20 loops. Round 6: (Ch 5, 4 sc in next loop) 20 times; end with a sl st each into first and second stitches of first ch 5 loop. Results in 20 loops. Round 7: (Ch 4, tr, ch 2, 2 tr) all in first loop, [(ch 1, 2 tr, ch 2, 2 tr) all in next loop] 19 times. Ch 1, sl st in top of ch 4, sl st in tr, sl st in ch. Round 8: *Sc over ch 2 bar, ch 6; rep from * around and end with ch 4, dc in first sc of round. Round 9: *Ch 5, 4 sc in loop; rep from * around and end with sl st in first st of ch 6. Results in 20 loops. Round 10: (Ch 4, 2 tr, ch 2, 3 tr) all in first loop. [(Ch 1, 3 tr, ch 2, 3 tr) in next loop around] 19 times. Connect end of round with beginning by working ch 1, sl st in top of ch 4, sl st in next 2 tr, sl st in ch. Round 11: *Sc over ch 2 bar, ch 7; rep from * around and end with sl st into first sc. Round 12: *3 sc in loop, ch 3, 3 sc in
same loop, ch 3, 3 sc in same loop; rep from * in each loop of round. Join to first sc with sl st. Break thread. For bag back, work rounds 1 to 11 as for front. On round 12 of back, work over 2 loops as for front. For next 14 loops, join to front of bag. Hold back of bag over the front. On back, sc 3 into next loop, ch 1, sc into ear of the ch 3 loop on round 12 of front, 3 sc into same loop of back, ch 1, sc into next ear on the same loop on front of bag, 3 sc on same loop on back of bag. Continue, joining the two parts of the bag in this manner until the last 4 loops. Finish round 12 on back of bag without joining to front. Finish round by sl st into first sc at beginning of round.
loop) 3 times, ch 3, sc into middle st of final ch 3 loop. Work all following rows as for Row 2 until strap measures 14 inches. Cut thread, leaving enough yarn to sew loose end of strap onto the center 4 ears at the top bag front.
Meta Thompson works by day as a stitcher in Charlotte, North Carolina. By night she putters away on her spinning, knitting, weaving, and crochet projects. Outside of working with fibers, she enjoys walking her dog, reading, eating good food, and thinking about fibers.
Strap
Turn work. Row 1: Ch 1, sc in next ear from ch 3 loop of previous round. *Ch 3, sc in next ear on the same loop; rep from * over the next 2 ears resulting in 3 new loops. Row 2: Turn work. (Ch 3, sc over next
Resources Aurora Silk, 434 N.E. Buffalo St., Portland, OR 97211. (503) 286-4149; www .aurorasilk.com. New World Textiles, PO Box 1484-W, Black Mountain, NC 28711-1484. (828) 6691870; www.charkha.biz.
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Natural-Dyed Crochet Vest

by E rd a K appel er
Gathering plants and yarn over time yields a colorful vest

Dyeing with natural dyes
Even though I have dyed for many years, each time I dye it is always another experiment and never feels routine. Mostly I work with clean carded batts that are free of lanolin and grease. After the dye process, the batts need loosening and carding once more before they are ready to spin. I mordant well before dyeing and frequently add more mordant at the end of the dyebath. Also I found that the final color can depend on when the dye plants were collected. My colors are brighter when the plants are fresh rather than dried or frozen. With the exception of logwood, Im able to find many vegetable dyes locally. I have harvested blackberry, artichoke, hairlike lady-bedstraw roots for red and pink, onion, the flaky bark and leaves of the Madrona tree, iris, the green of goldenrod and mistletoe (when the storms bring the clumps down right before Christmas), various eucalyptus (for near-black dye and bright orange), rock lichens (that need a three-week ammonia soak for vivid purple), mushrooms, and the California milkweed. I spin very comfortably on my more than 39-year-old Norwegian wheel with a 23-inch wheelbase. It works easily and I can stay with it for hours. I try to spin for a project but often I get waylaid and end up with a lot of small amounts of yarns. I have used these colorful leftovers and samples for the granny squares in my vest. After I crocheted the squares, I laid them out over a paper pattern of the
Erda gathered most of the plants she used to dye the yarn for this crocheted vest from the area around her house in northern California.
fter years spent dyeing, spinning, and crocheting, I finally finished my crocheted vest! I had spun the yarns for a warp I never wove, so the yarn is strong. I prefer fairly coarse wools such as New Zealand Perendale that can take mordants, handling, and heat with very little matting because I like to use natural dyes and sometimes dye the yarn several times to get the colors I want. I crocheted 164 squares, and then sewed them together to make the vest. I knitted the border after the vest was assembled.
vest and sewed them together using sewing thread, only to find that the sewing took up more space. To solve that problem I figured for seam allowance and I crocheted more squares. The idea for a vest had percolated for a long time in my mind, only I could not figure out how to crochet odd triangles. Until one night the bold idea struck me to machine stitch the shapes as needed and cut off the unwanted corners and edges. Not only did this technique work for the front, but it also worked for the armholes and the shoulder seams. From the beginning I wanted to knit the trim, I tried several samples and decided to use a narrow trim with a crisp fold and chain-stitch finish.
Granny Squares:
With color A, ch 6, join in a ring with sl st in beginning ch. Rnd 1: Ch 2 (counts as first dc), 11 dc in ring, sl st to 2nd of beginning ch. Rnd 2: Ch 1 (counts as first sc), *(dc, ch 1, tr, ch 1, dc) in next st, sc in next st, ch 3, sc in next st; rep from *, ending with sl st in beginning ch. Fasten off. Rnd 3: Attach color B at the sl st at the end of previous rnd, ch 4 (counts as last tr), *sc in next tr, (3 tr, ch 3, 3 tr) in next ch-3 loop; rep from * twice, sc in next tr, (3 tr, ch 3, 2 tr) in next ch-3 loop, sl st in 4th of beginning ch. Rnd 4: Ch 2 (counts as first sc), sc in next 4 sts, *(2 sc, ch 2, 2 sc) in ch-3 loop, skip next tr, sc in next 6 sts; rep from * twice, (2 sc, ch 2, 2 sc) in ch-3 loop, sc in next st. With a wool needle, fasten off the last st in the beginning sc in that round. Darn in the loose ends of yarn. Make 164 squares. Pin the finished squares to size and shape on an ironing board. Cover them with a damp terry cloth and very gently steam press them.
Assembly
Place one square on top of another with wrong sides together. Stitch the squares together along one edge by hand with a neutral colored sewing thread. Make
the stitches inside and right next to the outermost chain of the final rows of crochet. When opened flat, the seam leaves a slightly raised chained margin around each square. Assemble all the squares acDiagram 1. Layout for crocheted squares. The heavy outline cording to the layindicates the seam lines for assembling the vest. out in Diagram 1. With wrong friend and teacher, the late Esther McKinley, egged sides together, match the back and her on to try natural dyeing. front shoulders. Stitch them together along the seam line and press the seam Resources open. (You may wish to baste the seam Bhi-Nussbaumer, Erna. So frbt man mit and try the vest on before stitching the Pflan Zen (This is how one dyes with plants). seam.) With a sewing machine, make 2 Bern, Switzerland: Paul Haupt, 1976. rows of straight stitching and 1 row of Bolten, Eileen M. Lichens for Vegetable Dyeing. zigzag stitching along each seam allowNewton, Massachusetts: Charles T. Branance, 14 inch from the seam. Trim the ford Co., 1960. allowances close to the stitching, then Dye Plants and Dyeing. Brooklyn, New York: loosely slip-stitch the allowances to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, 1964. wrong side of the garment. Grae, Ida. Natures Colors. New York, New At the neckline and armholes, York: Macmillan, 1974 (in reprint). Rice, Miriam. Mushrooms for Color. Eureka, machine stitch along the seam line California: Mad River Press, Inc., 1980. twice and again 18 inch outside the seam line. Trim the excess fabric just outside the lines of stitching. Knitted trim: With the long circular needle and working on the wrong side, pick up and knit 1 stitch in each crochet stitch along the lower edge of the vest. Size: Womens smallmedium. Row 1: (Right side facing) Purl. The vest measures 36 inches in Row 2: Knit. circumference at the chest and is 2112 Rows 3, 4, 5: Purl. inches long. Row 6: Knit. Yarn: Singles yarn spun to about Row 7: Purl. fingering weight (about 1,675 to 2,100 yards per pound): small quantities Row 8: Knit. of several colors totaling about 11 Bind off in purl. Fold the trim to the ounces plus a sufficient amount of one right side to cover the picked-up stitchcolor for the knitted trim. es and sew in place with sewing thread. Hook and Needles: Aluminum Make a similar edging for the front and crochet hook, size C; 29-inch circular neck edge. Use the set of 5 double-pointed knitting needles and set of 5 doubleneedles to make a similar edging around pointed knitting needles, U. S. size 1. each armhole, working in the round. Notions: Neutral colored sewing thread and needle.
Project Notes
Erda Kappeler of northern California learned to spindle spin in 1963 and a year later her mother-inlaw gave her the wheel that she still spins on. Her
Gauge: Each finished motif measures 2 inches square.

Making Cat Baskets

by R o s anne Ander so n
Using chaffy wool
here are many ways to end up with a chaff- ridden fleece1you could have received it as a gift, you could have obtained it from your own carefully tended flock (usual ly a favorite a nimal), orhorrorsyou could have purchased it, convincing yourself that all the chaff would fall out as you worked with the fleece.
Whenever Ive spun fleece that had chaff, it never completely fell out. It just seemed to break up and scatter frivolously throughout the fleece, and I was left to do the spin-pick-spin technique.
1 Fleece containing organic matter like hay.
Rosanne needed to use up some of the chaffy wool she had stashed away. So she created cat baskets!
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Project Notes
Finished size: 15 inches wide, 5 inches high. Fiber: Chaffy roving, drafted out to 1-inch thickness. Hook: Rosanne used the giant rochet hook for rag rugs. S c elect the crochet hook to match your roving and the size of the stitches you want. Gauge: The basket shown here has 2 stitches in 4 inches. Your gauge will vary depending on your r oving and crochet hook size.
When I first learned to spin I used to hoard every little scrap of wool. If it came from my pampered flock of five (two Romneys, a Coopworth, and two Moorits), it had to be good. Right? Well, after years of my sheep producing fleece upon fleece, I no longer have the time to deal with a marginal fleece. Lack of storage space finally forced me to deal with my box of less than perfect fleece. What could I create that a little weed seed would not detract from? Cat baskets! Around the ranch I had observed my cats curled up in anything small and cozy they could findfrom suitcases to boxes, knitting baskets, and fresh laundry. I knew they wouldnt mind the chaffy wooltheyd love it! With quick and easy projects like this, sometimes it is hard to know when to quit. The large hook and thick wool work up quickly but they require hand motions larger than normal crochet projects. When I crochet too long, my hands get really tired. So I try to work in smaller time increments to minimize this stress. Predraft your roving so that it is about 1 inch in diameter or a thickness that works for the size hook you plan to use. Make a slipknot and chain two stitches. Make 1 single crochet in the slipknot and then single crochet
To make this basket, simply draft out some carded roving and crochet in a spiral to make a base, then decrease and work straight up for the sides.
Use a wool roving to crochet the basket. A little bit of 2-ply handspun yarn makes a nice crocheted edge.
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For the base, make a slip knot to begin,
then join the end and single crochet in a spiral, increasing occasionally.
around the chain; continue working around in a spiral increasing occasionally to keep the base flat. Continue until the base is large enough for your cat. My kitties love to snuggle so I made mine big enough for two cats. To create the basket sides, begin to decrease every few stitches to pull the sides up as you continue to crochet around. You can make straight sides or decrease so that the top of the basket is smaller in circumference than the sides. Finish by pulling the end of the roving through the last stitch and weaving in the end. Youll probably want to wash your cat basket occasionallya gentle washing according to typical wool washing directions will work wonderfully. Your basket will get fuzzier each time you wash it. Or your cats might like a felted basket just throw it in the wash cycle with some jeans and wool-safe detergent.
Rosanne Anderson lives on a ranch near Spokane, Washington, where she raises a few cows, chickens, and sheep, and cares for elderly horses. She loves teaching middle school, knitting, spinning, and attending as many conferences as she can afford. Shes a freelance writer in her spare time.
Increase by making two single crochet stitches in one stitch.
Decrease by skipping a stitch.
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Sunrise Moonset Vest

by Lynne Vo gel
Capturing a mood with fiber, twist, and color
Lynne Vogel saw a imultaneous sunrise and s moonset that inspired her to capture the mood and colors of the scene in this crocheted and knitted vest.
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fter living on the Oregon coast for thirteen years and being accustomed to seeing the sun set into the Pacific Ocean, I was excited at a rare opportunity to visit North Carolina and watch the sun rise in the Atlantic. For four days my husband Jim and I watched each sunrise. By the fifth day, it was full moon, and we saw the sun rising and the moon setting simultaneously. The moon was smoky lavender descending into a soft peach sky, while the sun gave off its tones of coral, apricot, and gold. The rosy colors from the new suns rays seemed to reach around the dome of the heavens and swallow the lavender moon as it set.
On our return home, I lost no time capturing what I had seen and felt in a fiber piece. Time was of the essence because I was going to my first SOAR (Spin .O Autumn Retreat) and I wanted this piece to be worthy of the handspun gallery of participants work always featured there. It was already five days into September, and SOAR was at the end of October. A sleeveless shell or vest would be a lot more reasonable in that amount of time than the kimono jacket I really wanted to make. Also, I had only a pound of Bluefaced Leicester top that I could dye right away. Earlier that summer I had crocheted some remarkably delicate granny squares with energized singles spun from space-dyed Bluefaced Leicester top. Bluefaced Leicester can be easily worsted-spun into a consistently fine, smooth yarn that really holds stitch definition well, a very desirable quality when youre working with energized singles.1 I found that the ever-changing solid colors formed small abstract geometric shapes instead of stripes when worked in crochet. I spun the singles yarn using a semi-worsted spinning
1 For more information about using energized singles, see Kathryn Alexanders article, Knitting with Singles, from the Spring 2002 issue of Spin.O.
technique that I learned from Kathryn Alexander. I did this by drafting with my natural drafting hand (left) as I would for long draw, but controlling the smoothness and thickness by holding the point of twist and following my drafting hand at the same rhythm with my right hand. Moving both hands in this manner prevents too much twist from being introduced into the yarn. When Im designing new pieces, I always think about two or three things at once. As the colorways were swimming through my head, I pored over
my crochet-stitch manuals and spun and brainstormed as I tried different stitches. A shell pattern reminded me of the repeating crescent pattern the sun left on my retina when I gazed indirectly at it for a second, blinked, and gazed again. I fell in love with the beauty of each stitch. I had some
Bluefaced Leicester roving already dyed in old fashioned sunflower colors (gold, pink, russet) that were reminiscent of the sunrise. I sketched some preliminary ideas in colored pencil, crocheted a few panels of different stitches that might speak of sunrises and moonsets, and then sketched some overall garment shapes. As I swatched, I paid close attention to the consistent thickness of yarn I had spun with a Z-twist. I use Z-twist singles when I crochet because I have found that singles either untwist or twist more as I work with them. When I crochet, I usually twist a Z-twist tighter and untwist an S-twist yarn. When the yarn untwists, it loses the crispness I like in a crochet stitch. Using the lively quality of an energized yarn in crocheting allows more stitch definition than a finished singles or a plied yarn. Working with colored pencils, I came up with three different colorways (Sunrise, Moonset, and Lavender Sand) that reminded me of that morning. Sunrise combined gold, soft coral, peach, dusky rust, and lavender. Moonset was lavender, peach, and soft apricot. Lavender Sand combined several muted lavenders to serve as a cool background to the warm tones. I separated the pound of fiber into thirds and dyed each colorway on one-third pound. I chose the hot pour method that I describe in detail in The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook (Interweave Press, 2002) and in the Dyeing with the Twisted Sisters article in the Winter 2002 issue of Spin .O , because I wanted soft muted colors that shifted somewhat gradually into each other. I mixed the colors I wanted beforehand, diluting the shades so they couldnt possibly turn out too dark. Since this dye method dilutes the colors even further, I started pouring with medium shades. They became lighter pastel shades in the finished top.
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By the time my tops were dyed and dried, I had sketched a tentative pattern for my vest. I wanted to represent the sunrise on the back and the moonset on the front with ripples of garter stitch along the sides to represent the soft sand at the waters edge. I worked out my gauge, decided on the measurements of the completed piece, and set to work. I made swatches of both the filet pattern and the shell-stitch patterns and blocked them before I decided on the number of stitches in the front and back panels. I find that blocking is an important part of crochet, so much so that it must be part of the swatching process. Block crochet fabric by pressing it gently into very warm water with the tiniest drop of shampoo or dishwashing liquid, then rinse in the very same temperature of water. Roll the fabric in a towel to get the excess moisture out. I dont use a washing-machine for spinning because it can be too rough and torque the fabric. After removing as much moisture as possible, lay the piece out on a foamcore board and pin it into shape with rustproof sewing pins. I use loads of pins and begin from the center of the piece and work toward the edges, gently stretching the fabric as I go, pushing the pins into the center of a firm stitch such as the center of a fan or the base of a double crochet so that I dont stretch the fabric so much that I distort the stitches. Even still, a large blocked crochet piece (such as the front or back of the vest) can be up to an inch or two larger than the unblocked piece. Once the piece is pinned, let it dry thoroughly before removing it from the board (this may take several days in a damp or cold climate). The resulting piece will stay blocked after it is removed from the board.
Project Notes
Finished size: Front Panel: 1138" wide by 2258" long. Back Panel: 1138" wide by 2218" long. Circumference at hem: 35. Armhole depth: 812". Width at shoulders: 1312". Width of neck opening: 712". Fiber: 16 ounces of Bluefaced Leicester top (the finished vest weighs 9 ounces). Yarn: Singles yarn spun with a Z-twist that measures 1518 wraps per inch and about 25 degree angle of twist. Three colorways: (A) Laven der Sand, (B) Sunrise, (C) Moonset, 513 ounces of each color. Hook: U.S. size B. Needles: U.S. size 2 straight knitting needles. Gauge: 8 sts per inch in both knit ting and crochet. To obtain gauge, work a sample 4 4" swatch as fol lows. Make a slip knot and chain 32 sts. Row 1: Sc every st. Row 2: Dc every st. Repeat rows 1 and 2 until swatch measures 4 inches. Note: Work all crochet stitches through both loops. Note: The front is longer than the back to create a better fit without shaping the neck in the back.
rep from * across row; end skip 1, 1 dc in next, chain 3 turn.
Moonset pattern
Large shell Multiple of 8 plus 1 st. Row 1: 1 sc in next *skip 3, 9 dc in next, skip 3, 1 sc in next; rep from * across row. Ch 4, turn. Row 2: 1 dc in sc below, *ch 2, sc in fifth dc below (center st of shell below), ch 2, 1 dc in sc below, ch 1, 1 dc in same sc below; rep from * across; end with ch 2, sc in fifth dc below, ch 2, 2 dc, in sc below. Ch 3, turn. Row 3: 4 dc in space between 2 dc below, skip 3, sc into sc below, *skip 3, 9 dc into space between 2 dc below, skip 3, 1 sc into sc below; rep from * across; end with skip 3, 5 dc into space between 2 dc below. Ch 1 turn. Row 4: *1 sc in sc below, ch 2, 1 dc in sc below, ch 1, 1 dc in same sc below, ch 2; rep from * across; end with 1 sc in sc below. Ch 1, turn.
Front panel
Bottom front panel (horizontal): Chain 14 in colorway A. Work 37 rows or 1138 inches in small shell pattern. End last row with dc. Ch 1, turn panel sideways so that long edge of panel is on top with your hook on the right side of the panel. Sc 89 sts into selvedge edge of panel (approx 8 sts per inch). Ch 3, turn.
Vertical front panel

Row 1: Still using colorway A, dc across row (89 sts), ch 1, turn. Row 2: Sc across row, ch 3, turn. Row 3: Dc. Row 4: Sc. Rows 57: Work small shell pattern. Row 8: Sc. Row 9: Dc. Row 10: Sc. Rows 1117: Work small shell pattern. Row 18: Sc. Change to colorway B.
Sunrise pattern
Small shell Multiple of 3 plus 2 sts. Row 1: Work 3 dc in fifth chain from hook. * Skip 2, 3 dc in next; rep from * across row, skip 1, 1 dc in next. Chain 3, turn. Row 2 and all subsequent rows: Skip one, 3 dc in next, *skip 2, 3 dc in next;
Rows 1920: Sc. Row 21: Dc. Row 22: Sc. Rows 2331: Work small shell pattern. Row 32: Sc. Change to colorway C. Row 33: Dc. Rows 3436: Sc. Rows 3779: Work large shell pattern, ending on row 3 of the small shell pattern.
Shape neckline
Row 80: Repeat row 4 of large shell pattern 5 times, sc into center dc below, ch 1 turn. Row 81 and all odd rows: (eliminating the normal sc in the pattern) 9 dc into space between 2 dc below, finish row in pattern. Row 82: Repeat row 2, 4 times, chain 1, turn. Row 84: Repeat row 4, 4 times, chain 1, turn. Continue decreasing in this manner to row 92: Ch 3, turn. Row 93: Dc. Work right side of neckline in a mirror image of left side.
Rows 1427: Work small shell pattern. Row 28: Dc. Row 29: Sc. Rows 3031: Small shell. Row 32: Dc. Rows 3335: Sc. Change to colorway B. Rows 3692: Work large shell pattern. Change to colorway A. Row 93: Dc. Block front and back panels before proceeding to side panels.
Front side panels

The changes for the back side panels are in parentheses. Left side (if you are wearing the vest): Hold front panel with right side of fabric facing you. Beginning at bottom hem, in colorway C, sc 8 sts per inch into the selvedge edge of the front panel, total 178 (174) sts. Work two more rows in sc, chain 1, turn. With size U.S. size 2 straight knitting needles, pick up and knit one st for each sc along row, total 178 sts. Begin knitting. Rows 12: Using colorway C, knit. Rows 312: Using colorway A, knit. Row 13: Knit. Row 14 (Armhole shaping begins): Bind off 58 (54) sts, knit to end of row. Row 15 and all odd rows: Knit. Row 16 and all even rows to row 30: Sl 1, k2tog, k across. Rows 3132: Knit. Row 33: K28, sr. Row 34 and all even rows: Knit. Row 35: K55, sr. Row 37: K65, sr. Row 39: K75, sr. Row 41: Knit. Bind off.
Lynne spun a fine Bluefaced Leicester yarn into a Z-twist singles that measures 1518 wraps per inch.
Back panel
Work horizontal panel in colorway A as for front. Continuing in colorway A, work back (vertical) panel. Row 1: Dc. Row 2: Sc. Row 3: Dc. Row 4: Sc. Row 5: Work small shell p attern. Row 6: Sc. Change to colorway C. Row 7: Sc. Row 8: Dc. Row 9: Sc. Rows 1011: Work small shell pattern. Row 12: Dc. Row 13: Sc.
Work right side as a mirror image to the left side. Work back side panels to correspond to front panels, using the numbers in parentheses for stitch counts. Join front to back at shoulders and join side seams to finish.
Lynne Vogel is an avid dyer, spinner, knitter, and crocheter. She is also the author of The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook. She and her husband Jim live in Tennessee.
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1 1) Regina consults with her aunt Susi Ernst about the details for crocheting the shawl that has been passed down through four generations. 2) Hlne HsliMaurer, Reginas grandmother. 3) Hedwig Maurer, Regina Rooneys great-grandmother, wearing the familys shawl. 2 3
P h o t o s pr o v i d e d b y R e g i n a R o o n e y
The FourGeneration Shawl

by R egina R o oney
or as long as I can remember, this crocheted shawl pattern has been a part of my familys history. I grew up in Switzerland during a time when the needle arts were still considered an integral part of a girls upbringing, and I have always had some knitting, sewing, or crochet project in the works ever since my great-aunt taught me how to knit at age six.
Traditions in warmth and giving

Soon after I taught myself to spin, about eight years ago, I started to think about making my own version of our family shawl in celebration of my love of all the fiber arts and in gratitude to the generations of women in my family who inspired and encouraged this love in me. It started with my great-grandmother Hedwig, who, as a young widow with a small child (my grandmother Hlne), made her living as a dressmaker. I always remember her with a lovely mauve shawl draped around her shoulders.
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Although my grandmother worked all her life, managing the office of the familys road construction business, she always found time to knit or crochet. My great-grandmother (who lived with my grandparents) taught my grandmother the shawl p attern in the 1960s, but my grandmother did not start making the shawls until her retirement a decade later. At that point, she made dozens of these shawls for family and friends and gave away many more to be sold at charity bazaars. My Aunt Susi took up the tradition next and now it is my turn. While no one in my family knows the origin of the shawl pattern, some speculate that it could be based on a French design that was popular about fifty years ago. A couple of unique construction features have contributed to the enduring popularity of the design within my family. The shawl is initially worked as a dodecagon (a twelve-sided polygon), starting from the center and working out in ever-widening circles. Eventually the dodecagon is folded in half when it reaches a size that covers the shoulders comfortably. At this point the lacy border is crocheted onto the doubled shoulder section. This creates a shawl with double thickness around the shoulders for warmth, but with a more delicate single thickness of lace at the edge. The pie shape sits on the shoulders in a very flattering way and doesnt slip off as much as a more traditional triangular shawl. The lacy border covers the arms to about the elbow, allowing full range of motion, and it covers most of the back. The shawl I crocheted has only ten wedges and still fits nicely; however, the pattern below is for the full twelve-wedge shawl.
Regina Rooney shares her familys shawl pattern, one that has been passed down through four generations so far.
Spinning
For my version of the shawl, I started with a pound of roving from Kai Ranch Colored Angora Goats in Lexington, Texas, that caught my eye at the Estes Park Wool Market a number of years ago for its lovely fawn color. It is a 75 percent kid mohair/25 percent colored Rambouillet/Merino fine wool blend.
The machine-carded roving had a soft hand and had only a small amount of vegetable matter that I easily picked out during spinning. Both the moorit colored wool and the silvery kid mohair had staple lengths of between 3 and 4 inches. The similar fiber lengths produced a well- balanced blend, although visually the two fibers are distinct because of their colors and textures. The wool has a fine crimp and the mohair is a smooth and silky fiber. Using the short-draw method, I spun a semi-worsted singles in the conventional clockwise direction on my Schacht wheel. Putting two bobbins on my lazy kate, I then plied the singles

in the opposite direction to produce a two-ply yarn that measures 12 to 13 wraps per inch and 5 to 6 twists per inch. Measuring with a McMorran balance, I determined the yarn to be about 850 yards per pound. I handwashed the yarn and hung it to dry unweighted. The finished yarn has a soft and silky feel to it with a lovely sheen. I knew that it would drape beautifully as a finished shawl. Before starting to crochet the shawl, I consulted with my aunt during a trip to Switzerland to make sure that I knew how to work the pattern. The pattern worked up quickly, and the yarn was very comfortable to work
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worked as a spiral. Round 2: Ch 3, dc into next space between size: the double crochets in the Finished 59" across at widest round below, ch 1. In back. each of the point; 25" long at center next ch 1 spaces around, work (1 Fiber: pound 75 percent dc, ch1 1) two times. Join kid last chain mohair/ 25 percent fine wool roving st to top of first chain of 3 with slip from Kai Ranch, www.kairanch.com. st. There should be two double crochets 14 in each space, Yarn: ounces 2-ply separated with 56 by a chain st (see fi gure 2). twists per inch, measuring 1213 Round 3: Chinch 3, dc into first space, wraps per and 850 yards per ch 1. Work (1 dc, ch 1) into next ch pound. 1 space and (1 dc, ch 1) two times Hook: U.S. size H or size needed to into the space between the two obtain gauge. paired double crochets from the round below. R epeatof this Gauge: 1 shell repeat (2 sequence dc, ch 1) to end of= round, joining chain 1 two times 1" wide and 58"last high. to top of first chain of 3 with slip st.
Project Notes
Regina spun 14 ounces of a 75% kid mohair/25% fine wool roving from Kai Ranch into 2-ply yarn with 56 twists per inch; it measures 1213 wraps per inch and 850 yards per pound. with. I noticed, however, that the mohair has a tendency to shed. I am hopeful that after a few washings that will stop. I think adding more twist to my singles may have helped with the shedding, but I decided to take the risk of some shedding in favor of a softer and loftier yarn. After completing the shawl, I handwashed and blocked it. I then entered it in the Boulder County Fair and, to my great delight, received a first place blue ribbon in the handspun category. This shawl was a gift to Aunt Susi in Switzerland for her eightieth birthday on December 25th, 2005. Round 1: Leave a short tail and form a loop with the yarn as indicated in figure 1. Hold this loop at yarn junction with the thumb and middle fin Interweave Press LLC. Not to be reprinted. All rights reserved.
ger of the left hand. Insert crochet hook into loop from back to front and crochet a chain stitch. Make 2 more chain stitches for a total of 3 chain stitches. Dc into center loop, followed by ch 1. Reginas shawl measures 59" across at the widest point and Repeat 10 more times. 25" long at center back. Join last ch to first column of 3 chain stitches with slip st. Round 4: Ch 3, dc into first space, ch 1. This completes a circle with 11 double Work (1 dc, ch 1) two times in each crochets and one pseudodouble ch 1 space between the two double crochet (the 3 chain stitches at begin crochets forming a pair (this crening of round = 1 dc + ch 1) with a ates a line of paired double crochets chain stitch between each double crobetween each wedge of the circle). chet. This is the first round. Work (1 dc, ch 1) in the spaces Note: The shawl consists of con centric between double crochet pairs, always circles of double crochets. It is not ending the round by attaching the
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Figure 1: Round 1
11 12
10
Figure 3 Figure 2: Beginning of first circle.
last chain 1 to the chain of 3. In each subsequent round, there will be one more single double crochet between the paired double crochets. This is how the concentric circles grow larger (see figure 2). Continue in this manner until the shawl comfortably covers the shoulders when folded in half (12 to 14 inches). Note: It is important to end the c ircular part of the shawl with a round in which the number of spaces between one paired double crochet and the m iddle of next paired double crochet is divisible by 3 (see figure 3).
Lace border
Fold circle in half, carefully lining up the rows of paired double crochets.
Make sure that the line of chain 3 and double crochets from the beginning of each round form one edge of the semicircle. Into that first space between the chain 3 and double crochet make (2 dc, ch 1) two times. Into the third space make (2 dc, ch 1) two times, making sure to work through both layers of the folded circle. Work (2 dc, ch 1) two times into every third space to the end of the semicircle, ending with ch 3. Turn. It is very i mportant that the two layers of the shawl and all the holes are aligned; otherwise, the count will be off at the end of the row. Next row: The chain 3 from the end of the previous row forms the first
double crochet of (2 dc, ch1) two times. Repeat (2 dc, ch 1) two times in the ch 1 space between the two pairs of double crochets across row. Continue in this way until lace border is desired length (about 12 inches). Weave in the ends. Wash with a wool-safe soap and block shawl.
Born and raised in Switzerland, Regina Rooney now lives on a thirty-acre farm outside Boulder, Colorado, with her husband, Doug, and two daughters, Isabelle and Linnea. When she is not busy with her family and numerous horses, chickens, dogs, and cats, she works as a knitwear designer and knitting teacher.
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Isobel
by D i ane
Mul hol l and
A crocheted cap
Project Notes
Size: Womens small to medium, to fit head measurement of 20" to 23" (cap shown is size small). Fiber: 100 g Polwarth combed top from Wendy Dennis, Tarndwarn coort. Drafting method: Short forward draw. Wheel: Ashford Joy. Wheel system: Scotch tension. Ratio (singles/plying): 8:1. Singles direction spun: Z. Singles wraps per inch: 28. Plied direction spun: S. Plied wraps per inch: 15. Total yardage: 200. Hook: U.S. size F (3.75mm) or U.S. size E (3.5mm). Gauge: Fingering-weight yarn, 15 wraps per inch: 20 sts and 12 rows = 4" in double crochet. Double knitting yarn, 12 wraps per inch: 16 sts and 9 rows = 4" in double crochet. This pattern is written for two dif ferent sizes of yarn. Numbers in pa rentheses refer to instructions for fingering-weight yarn. Where only one number occurs, it refers to both gauges. Notions: 24" (60 cm) of 58" wide (1 cm) satin ribbon. Note: For a larger size, use heavier yarn or work two additional increase rounds before the first shell inser tion (one extra rnd of dc before the second shell insertion and one rnd of dc before the tr rnd, for four extra rounds total).
purchased a couple of packs of prepared Polwarth top at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show in Bendigo in 2006. One pack became socks fairly quickly, but I asked my mother to dye the other for me in a subtle mix of blues, greens, and mauves and then saved it for a special project.
Dianes mother dyed the Polwarth top in lovely shades of blue, green, and mauve and Diane saved it for a special project.
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Finally, I was inspired and spun a light and airy two-ply yarn on my Ashford Joy. Although spinning with a semiworsted drafting technique, I avoided smoothing the yarn too much with my forward hand, allowing air to be trapped between the fibers. After splitting the top lengthwise, I allowed the colors to follow one another randomly in the singles. The plied yarn is a wonderful mix of blue on blue, green on blue, mauve on green, and a wealth of other combinations. While planning Isobel, I looked through many knitting stitch dictionaries before I realized that crochet would give me the perfect, subtly textured look that I wanted for this project. The hat worked up quickly, almost seeming to design itself, and it is now my favorite girlie accessory.
4 3
1) Polwarth
Crown
To begin, ch 5, and join into a ring with a slip stitch. Rnd 1: Ch 3 (counts as first dc here and throughout pattern), 9 dc into ring, sl st in top of 3 ch ( = total of 10 sts). Rnd 2: Ch 3, dc in same st, 2 dc in each stitch around; join (= 20 sts). Rnd 3: Ch 3, 2 dc in next st, *dc in next st, 2 dc in next st; rep from * to end; join (= 30 sts). Continue in this manner, increasing 10 sts evenly spaced around for 3 (5) more rnds, 60 (80) sts. Next rnd: Work as for previous rounds but increase 12 sts evenly spaced around (= 72 [92] sts total).
locks from Tarndwarncoort, 2) fingeringweight yarn, 3) dyed Polwarth top, and 4) crocheted cap. 1
Main Section
Rnd 1: Ch 3, 4 dc in next sp between two dc, *skip 4 dc, 5 dc in next sp; rep from * to end; join. Rnd 2: Ch 3, 4 dc in space between first and last dc groups of previous rnd, 5 dc in each sp between groups of 4 dc to end; join. Rnd 3: Ch 3, dc in each of next 3 dc, *skip 1 dc, dc in each of next 4 dc; rep from * to end; join (= 72 [92] sts). Rnds 46: Ch 3, dc in each st around; join. For double knitting yarn: Work Rnds 16
once more. On the next round, begin with ch 4 and then work 1 tr in each st around, 11 rnds total. For fingering-weight yarn: Work 1 rnd, then work Rnd 2 twice, followed by Rnds 34. On the next rnd, begin with ch 4 and then work tr in each st around, 12 rnds total.
Row 3 (optional): *Sc in next st, ch 1; rep from * to end. Fasten off; coil and secure flower shape using yarn ends.
Finishing
Measure and cut ribbon to length around head, allowing 1" overlap. Thread through last round before edging Edging as shown and stitch ends together. Stitch Next rnd: Ch 3, (4 tr, 1 dc) in next sp, flower in place, covering join in ribbon. *skip 4 dc, (1 dc, 4 tr, 1 dc) in next sp; Darn in all ends. rep from * to end; join and fasten off.
Flower
To begin, ch 20. Row 1: Dc in fifth ch from hook, *ch 1, 1 dc in next ch; rep from * to end; turn. Row 2: Ch 3, (4 tr, 1 dc) in next sp, *(1 dc, 4 tr, 1 dc) in next sp; rep from * to end; turn.

Diane Mulholland had the very good fortune to grow up on an Australian sheep farm, and a love of all things fiber-related was a natural result. A long way from home now, she tries her best to fit as much wool as possible into her tiny London flat. Read about what shes been up to at www .dianemulholland.com/blog.
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A b b r e v i a t i o n s
a n d
t e c h n i q u e s
Abbreviations
Here are some abbreviations and techniques youll find used in some of the patterns presented here. Stitches unique to a given hat are explained within the pattern. beg beginning; begin; begins BO bind off bet between CC contrasting color ch chain cm centimeter(s) CO cast on dc double crochet dec(s) decrease(s); decreasing dpn double-pointed needles inc increase(s); increasing k knit k2tog knit two stitches together kwise knitwise MC main color mm millimeter(s) M1 make one (increase) p purl psso pass slipped stitch over rem remain; remains; remaining rep repeat rev St st reverse stockinette stitch (purl on RS, knit on WS) rib ribbing rnd round RS right side sc single crochet sk skip sl slip sl st slip stitch ssk slip 1 kwise, slip 1 kwise, k2 sl sts tog tbl st(s) stitch(es) St st stockinette stitch tbl through back loop tog together tr treble crochet WS wrong side wyb with yarn in back wyf with yarn in front yo yarn over * repeat starting point (i.e., rep from *)
Techniques
Crochet stitches
Chain stitch (ch): Make a slipknot on the hook. Yarn over the hook and draw it through the loop of the slipknot. Repeat, drawing the yarn through the last loop formed. Single crochet (sc): Insert the hook into a stitch, yarn over the hook and draw a loop through the stitch, yarn over the hook (figure 1) and draw it through both loops on the hook (figure 2).
Single crochet figure 1
Crochet chain stitch Single crochet figure 2
Double crochet (dc): Yarn over hook, insert the hook into a stitch, yarn over the hook (figure 1) and draw a loop
Double crochet figure 1
Slip stitch (sl st): Insert the hook into a stitch, yarn over the hook and draw a loop through the stitch on the hook.
Slip-stitch crochet
through the stitch (three loops on hook), yarn over the hook and draw it through two loops, yarn over the hook and draw it through the remaining two loops (figure 2).
Double crochet figure 2
To join a round with a slip stitch, insert the hook into the first stitch, yarn over and draw a loop through the work and the stitch on the hook.
Slip-stitch join
Reading charts
Unless otherwise indicated, charts are read from the bottom up. When knitting in the round, read chart from right to left for all rows.
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Abbreviations and basic stitches

Abbreviations
CHST = chain stitch SLST = slip stitch TBL = through back loop TFL = through front loop CO = cast on SC = single crochet INC = increase DEC = decrease ST(S) = stitch(es) RND = round BRD = braid
Slip stitch through the front loop

Slip stitch through the front loop
Slip stitch through the back loop

Slip stitch through the back loop
Insert the hook through the front half of the next stitch. Slip stitch braid
Catch the yarn and draw it through both loops.
Insert hook through the back half of the next stitch.
Catch the yarn and draw it through both loops.
Slip stitch braid
Chain stitch eyelets and buttonholes

Skip one stitch and work one chain stitch
Insert the hook into Catch the yarn and the stitch behind both draw it through both halves of the braid. loops.
Without going into a stitch, catch the yarn and draw it through.
Single crochet increase

A SLST TFL has just been worked. Insert the hook back through this same stitch, catch the yarn and draw it through the stitch but not through the loop on the hook. Catch the yarn again and draw it through both loops. Note that the stitch this increase is worked into is the one just above the bump created by the p revious increases.
Cast on for a round-bottom bag
Slip knot and chain stitch
Make a ring by Form a loop by pulling crossing the the long end up through yarn over itself. the ring; insert hook.
Catch the yarn and draw it through the loop.
Insert the hook through the ring.
The first loop of a chain is made by tying a slip knot.
Insert the hook through the loop and draw up the slack in the knot and the loop.
Catch the yarn and Catch the yarn again draw it back through and draw it through the ring but not both loops. through the loop on the hook.
Cast on of 7 single crochet stitches complete. Draw the ring tight by pulling the tail yarn. First row: work a SLST TFL on the first cast-on stitch. Increase to 14 stitches by working a SLST into the back and then front of each stitch 7 times. Work 1 SLST TFL of next stitch and then begin work from graph. It is a good idea to mark the beginning of the round row.
One cast-on stitch complete. Work 6 more single crochet stitches around the ring and tail yarns.
Catch the yarn One completed chain and draw it stitch. Repeat to desired through the loop. number of stitches.

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